When the Emmy-winning documentary “Social Dilemma” was aired, it captured the attention of many by demonstrating how dependent we had become on social media’s feedback loop.
Tristan Harris, a social media ethicist, was one of the subjects of the documentary. This week, 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker interviewed the co-founder of the non-profit Center for Humane Technology, which strives to connect technology with humanity’s greatest interests, for a segment on how social media has exacerbated America’s political divide.
“Those who post the most frequently are the most certain and enraged extremists on all sides,” Harris told Whitaker. And the more extreme content individuals publish, the more the algorithms reward them.
In addition to potentially supporting radical ideologies through algorithms that reward involvement, social media corporations “have seized the essence of social participation in society,” according to Harris.
“If I am a little or medium-sized firm and I do not advertise on Facebook while my competitors do, I will lose,” Harris told Whitaker. If I’m a politician and I switch it off while my opponents are still playing the outrage machine, they’ll win the next election and I’ll lose. If I’m a child and all my peers are gaining social status and popularity by using TikTok, I won’t have social status.
While politicians from both parties have called for the regulation of social media businesses, they have primarily focused on content regulation. However, Harris argues that the business model that encourages catching our attention by catering to our anger and divisiveness must be addressed.
“You need the government to oversee the behavior of all these firms,” Harris told 60 Minutes. “By regulation, I do not mean speech or censorship. It regulates this business engagement paradigm. It’s not that social media are negative. It’s that the misguided commercial model of maximizing engagement has tainted social media. This is what must be altered.”
Below is a link to Bill Whitaker’s full report.
Social media and political divisiveness in America | 60 Minutes 13:39
Sarah Shafer Prediger edited the film above, which was produced by Keith Zubrow and edited by him.